Key Benefits of Using an End-to-End eDiscovery Platform for Complex Cases

Key benefits of using an end-to-end eDiscovery platform for complex cases include full support for the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) lifecycle, defensible processing with audit trails, and shorter discovery timelines due to the automated eDiscovery workflow, resulting in reduced costs. Implementing litigation discovery software to manage cases also facilitates cross-team collaboration, advanced analytics, and smarter document review. Additionally, an eDiscovery platform is scalable and flexible, reducing personnel needs and time-to-value.

A multinational corporation is facing an antitrust investigation, and you are a member of the cross-functional team responsible for collecting all relevant data related to the case. Would you know where to begin, especially when the "data" involves numerous emails, chat logs, and documents across different countries and languages?

An end-to-end eDiscovery platform can streamline the legal process from preservation to production. Many companies, even those in countries without formalized eDiscovery rules, are using the technology when faced with litigation or regulatory action, according to the Institute of Comparative Law. It is not simply a document review platform. Its extensive capabilities allow firms to manage company data, redact sensitive information, perform audits that facilitate more efficient fact-finding, and conduct internal investigations.

Using it in the scenario above means less reliance on multiple vendors, while lowering data transfer costs, identifying critical evidence faster, and demonstrating robust compliance. Most importantly, the platform can potentially save your company millions.

What Are the Key Benefits of Using an End-To-End eDiscovery Platform for Complex Cases?

According to Legal Dive, approximately 61% of U.S. organizations were involved in at least one regulatory proceeding in 2023. There are thousands of legal and regulatory investigations annually, spanning federal, state, and local bodies. Companies being investigated must find an efficient way to preserve all relevant data while managing sensitive information and ensuring compliance.

An end-to-end eDiscovery platform can help them achieve this as it facilitates:

Comprehensive Coverage of the EDRM Lifecycle

The EDRM lifecycle manages electronic information, starting with proactive governance and narrowing down a large pool of data to a small set of litigation-ready exhibits. Litigation discovery software supports the lifecycle by minimizing vendor handoffs and data transfers. It centralizes the management of:

• Legal holds
• Data collection
• Processing
• Review
• Production

This enables consistent standards across the legal process, including fewer delays in urgent investigations due to the automated legal holds and streamlined data processing involved.

Defensibility and Auditability

A firm's processes must be sound, fair, and compliant, demonstrating consistent decision-making and showing proactive governance. eDiscovery tools facilitate defensible processing with:

• Audit trails
• Chain of custody
• Validation protocols

Consistent methodologies and documentation improve court readiness and reduce the risk of challenged productions.

Automated eDiscovery Workflow Accelerates Timelines and Cost Reduction

Depending on the number of legal or regulatory proceedings a firm faces, ensuring efficient data handling can be costly, especially without the right legal technology. Having an integrated platform shortens discovery timelines through parallel processing and an automated eDiscovery workflow.​ Automation and centralized analytics reduce manual review and vendor management, cutting overall costs.​

Case teams can reallocate resources to more strategic tasks rather than using different, time-consuming tools to achieve the same result.​

Advanced Analytics and Smarter Document Review Platform

The more complex a case, the more effort, resources, and strategies are needed to ensure a favorable outcome. AI-powered analytics enable classification, clustering, and privilege detection and can positively impact future cases. As an efficient document review platform, it quickly identifies data sets that can be reused, producing cross-matter analytics that improve consistency and reduce time-to-insight.​

Together, the analytics and review components ensure higher accuracy in document coding and faster identification of key issues during review.​

Collaboration and Governance Across Teams

When a company faces a legal or regulatory matter, data collection becomes a coordinated effort led by the legal department, often involving a cross-functional team comprising employees in different countries. This can make an already complex matter even more challenging.

An end-to-end eDiscovery platform enables cross-team collaboration with standardized dashboards and reporting.​ Global or multi-site matters benefit from the platform's case management solutions, which include:

• Centralized access
• Role-based controls
• Unified reporting

This facilitates clear ownership and auditable decisions, streamlining court-facing communications.​

Scalability and Flexibility

The cloud-based, scalable architecture of an eDiscovery platform supports small matters to investigations involving multi-terabytes of data without incurring infrastructure overhead.​ Flexible deployment models and cloud availability reduce the on-site personnel needed while accelerating the impact of the software's value. The return on investment (ROI) of litigation discovery software becomes even more significant as data volumes grow.

How to Choose the Right End-To-End Platform for Complex Matters

The optimal choice should incorporate full workflow coverage, defensibility, cost control, and organizational capabilities.​ Some teams may prefer fully-integrated platforms, while others assemble modular stacks; the trade-offs depend on volume, expertise, and risk appetite.​ Before making a decision, evaluate platform capabilities based on:

• Collection
• Processing
• Analytics
• Review
• Production
• Reporting​

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Primary Purpose of eDiscovery?

The primary purpose of eDiscovery is to identify, locate, and exchange Electronically Stored Information (ESI) for use as evidence in legal proceedings, such as lawsuits, government investigations, or regulatory inquiries.

What Is an eDiscovery Platform?

An eDiscovery platform is a specialized software system that helps legal teams identify, collect, preserve, review, and produce  ESI for lawsuits and investigations. It streamlines the complex process of handling digital evidence, such as emails, documents, and social media data, to reduce costs and manage risk. These platforms automate tasks, utilize powerful search, and incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) to efficiently review massive datasets, ensuring compliance and accelerating case resolution.

Who Uses eDiscovery?

A broad range of professionals and organizations use eDiscovery, including corporate legal and compliance teams, government agencies, and IT and cybersecurity professionals. Compliance officers and auditors, insurance companies, and records managers also utilize the software.

Enhancing Complex Case Management With Litigation Discovery Software

An end-to-end eDiscovery platform offers a defensible, efficient, and scalable approach for complex cases, reducing risk and accelerating outcomes.​ These benefits ensure that your investment in litigation discovery software pays for itself over time. Having both an automated eDiscovery workflow and an efficient document review platform combined shortens timelines and reduces costs.

Reveal has designed a leading AI-powered platform for eDiscovery and has worked with thousands of customers in various countries. We can help you too, by ensuring your software covers all phases of the EDRM lifecycle with appropriate analytics, scalability, and governance features. Schedule a demo today to start effectively managing your electronically stored information for greater efficiency and cost savings.